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The Nation’s Restaurant News newsletter shares a recent study that shows spending habits of consumers flip-flopping between quick service and casual segments. During the recession, the quick service sector got a boost from tightening spending habits. Now the casual sector has retaken the majority of dining dollars. Click below for many more details…..

Here’s the low down on what food and beverage trends were spotted as “getting hot” in the restaurant world, as seen at the 2012 National Restaurant Association Show. Don’t let your restaurant get antiquated. Change is good. See if you can spot at least 1 trend in the article to build around in your own business.

Here’s an article from Nation’s Restaurant News about sales predictions for 2012. According to the study, everything is looking rosy. The question to you is, “Since this study only contains data from the Top 500 largest chains, does this study suggest restaurant sales overall are going up 3.4%, or does it suggest that independent restaurant competition is weakening for the chains and they are taking a larger marketshare of the consumers budget?”

Since this report also recognizes that most the previous and expected gains have been in quick service restaurants, it suggests that consumers are still being careful with their dining dollar, looking for value in quick casual restaurants instead of full service restaurants. Time will only tell what the real deal is. I tend to trust studies that include a large sampling of independent restaurants. They are a better indicator of the overall market and health of the industry in my opinion.

Digital menu boards seem like they should be the natural evolution for quick service restaurants. They would lower the cost of making frequent price increases, increasing cashflow, and allow menu redesigns to happen much faster. Not to mention, they just look “cool” compared to static menu boards.

Is your restaurant currently using digital menu boards, or have you considered it? Take a look at the following article from Nation’s Restaurant News.